Manatee schools expect critique to generate a recovery plan

Sunday

Apr 21, 2013 at 5:41 PM

By KATY BERGENkaty.bergen@heraldtribune.com

A team of education officials and financial consultants from across the state descends upon Manatee schools today, starting a week of interviews and critiques that Superintendent Rick Mills says will lead to an economic recovery plan for the school system.

The 13-member team meets with the superintendent, the Citizens Advisory Group and board members today, before breaking into groups that will spend the week sifting through documents, visiting schools and interviewing department heads.

The team is looking for ideas on how to cut costs in a district struggling to build back reserves after a multi-million budget deficit last fall.

"We have to work very, very quickly when we get down there," said Don Griesheimer, associate executive director of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, which assembled the team. "Monday is a big picture day."

Through the efforts of former Florida Superintendent of the Year Bill Vogel, who co-led the citizens search group this year and briefly served as interim superintendent, costs are primarily covered by the Florida Department of Education.

Vogel, who has also served as a mentor to Mills during his first months on the job, approached the department about assembling a transition team for Manatee County, and the state responded with a roughly $30,000 grant to work with the superintendents association. The district will contribute roughly $5,000 and the association will pick up other costs, Griesheimer said.

"The district right as it stands is under scrutiny from the Department of Education because of the fund balance," Vogel said. "That is first and foremost. The goal would be to start the next school year in sound financial health and have organizational structure and systems in place."

The district must bring depleted reserves up to the $6.7 million mark they promised to the state in the wake of a $3.4 million budget deficit that revealed the district's saving account to be way behind the 3 percent mark required by the state.

The district must reach the $6.7 million figure, which is only 2.2 percent of the district's operating budget, by the end of this fiscal year to be meet its commitment to the state.

But though the transition team has been charged with coming up with recommendations for how the district can push itself deeper into the black after dipping into school accounts and making extensive cuts at the district level, the team will also look into a lack of consistent procedures and process that allowed budget errors to happen in the first place, Vogel said.

"You cannot just look at those key functions by themselves," Vogel said. "We're looking at a broader base than just the economic recovery."

The concept of transition teams is not a new one, said Griesheimer, who estimates his organization has been involved in almost 300 such groups.

This team includes retired St. John's County Chief Financial Officer Conley Weiss and Florida Department of Education regional director Pamela Craig.

"The ultimate goal is a cost-recovery plan," Griesheimer said. "But we will also provide suggestions for how different department can work better together. A school district need to operate as a system."

Board member Dave Miner said he was open to the transition team's recommendations.

"I'm looking forward to their reviews on internal systems that are supposed to keep tabs on how the district serves the community," Miner said. "I welcome outsiders to come give us another view of how we can improve this school district."